


Time to Choose

by obs3ss1ons



Category: Station 19 (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, First Fight, Season 2 Ep 7, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 07:44:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16806388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obs3ss1ons/pseuds/obs3ss1ons
Summary: Chief Ripley finds out someone knows about his relationship with Vic.





	Time to Choose

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time actually putting any of my fanfiction online. Suggestions and criticism are welcome!

Lucas looked up at the knock on his office door. Gibson stood in the doorway, his eyelids droopy. The Chief waved the Lieutenant inside and said, “Close the door and have a seat.”  
“What's this about, Chief?” Gibson asked as he settled in a chair in front of the desk.  
“It has been brought to my attention that you haven't been sleeping lately. I noticed it the day of the storm last month as well,” Lucas started.  
Gibson shifted in his seat and said, “I'm getting enough.”  
“No, Lieutenant, you're not,” Lucas pointed out. He clasped his hands together and leaned forward. “You're making rash judgments that your team is unwilling to follow. You have no patience during calls. Yelling at your coworkers, your captain. Shall I continue?”  
Gibson shook his head. He pushed himself upright in his chair and asked, “What, did your girlfriend fill you in on my habits?”  
“Excuse me?”  
“Has Hughes become a snitch or spy or something for you now? Telling you every little detail about the station?” Gibson continued, a strange gleam in his eyes.  
Lucas sucked in a breath. Someone knew about their relationship. She'd told someone about him, and now it was being thrown in his face. He schooled his features and responded calmly, “What I or Hughes or anyone else do outside of the station has nothing to do with how I do my job. Is that clear?”  
“Yes, Sir.”  
“Now, your team is worried, and so am I. Not getting enough rest in our line of work puts lives at risk,” Lucas moved on. “I'm putting you on medical leave for the next two weeks. Go see a doctor or therapist, whatever you need to do. Come see me at the end of the two weeks, and we'll see where to go from there.”  
“Right,” Gibson said and stood. Lucas stood, as well.  
“Get some sleep. Get your head on straight. Otherwise you may be looking for a new job,” Lucas informed him. Gibson nodded and left. Lucas fell back into his chair. That conversation did not go how he expected. He knew Gibson would fight back. Everyone he'd interviewed mentioned that the Lieutenant had a short fuse lately.  
What Lucas didn't expect was his relationship with Vic to be Gibson's choice of argument. As far as he knew, nobody had figured it out. Apparently he was wrong. Vic had told at least one person. Which meant more would find out. And that would lead to either them losing their jobs or ending the relationship. He wasn't fond of either of those options.

Lucas was sliding his jacket on at the end of the day when his phone beeped with a new text message. He didn't need to look to know who it was from. They'd already made plans for Vic to cook dinner for him that night. But he wasn't sure if he still wanted to see her. He didn't know if he should. Then again, if they had to end it, at least he could be alone with her one more time.  
He let her know he was on his way before leaving his office. The entire way to her apartment, Lucas went over their options. He would not let her give up her career. Not when she'd barely gotten started. He didn't want to let go of his own, but would he be willing to for her? That he even considered it surprised him. He chose his career over both of his marriages. And he and Vic were nowhere near the conversation about marriage. Not yet anyway.  
By the time Lucas reached Vic's front door, his mood had completely depleted. He couldn't even force a smile when she opened the door and pulled him inside. She reached up for a kiss as usual, and he obliged automatically. But it was the quickest kiss they'd ever shared. Vic stepped back, and her ever-present grin faltered. “What's wrong?”  
He opened his mouth to tell her what happened, but then changed his mind. He wouldn't ruin the evening just yet. So he shook his head and said, “Nothing. Just had a rough day.”  
“Anything I can do to help?” she asked suggestively.  
“Not really,” he told her. Ignoring the way her smile faded more and her forehead creased, he asked, “How's dinner coming?  
She followed his change of topic and let him help her finish. He let her talk about her day while they ate without adding much commentary. If she noticed, she didn't show it. Yet he doubted she'd let it slide for long. They had a routine on the evenings they were together. They shared about their day over a meal and then either snuggled on the couch or headed straight to the bedroom. No going out together since he was known city-wide. But neither complained.  
As she told him about a shopping trip with Andy and Maya, he began to wonder if she was actually happy with the way things were. She was young. She liked to go out with her friends. Yet she couldn't go anywhere public with the man she was seeing. She couldn't even tell her friends about him. Why had she put up with that for so long? They'd been together for just over two months, which wasn't long in terms of a relationship. But, he realized, that was two months of her keeping a secret, lying to her friends. Maybe – he choked at the thought – maybe she was ready for it to end. Maybe that was why she told Gibson and possibly more.  
“Okay, what is it?” Vic suddenly asked.  
“What?”  
She stood and picked up her mostly empty plate. After dumping it into the sink, she faced him and started, “If you don't want to be here, then there's the door. I won't make you be somewhere you don't want to be.”  
Lucas stood and moved toward her. He reached out to grasp her arms, but she stepped back. His own arms fell to his sides as he inquired, “Do you want me to leave?”  
“It doesn't matter what I want.”  
“Yes, it does.”  
Vic shook her head repeatedly. “No, it doesn't. Because we made plans to be here tonight. Together. And you look like you'd rather be anywhere but here.”  
Lucas sighed. He hung his head as he gathered his thoughts. She was already defensive. How the hell was he supposed to broach the topic now? But he had to. He needed to know where they stood, what they might be giving up. He lifted his head and forced himself to hold her gaze as he asked, “When did you start telling people about us?”  
This time it was Vic who looked surprised. “What are you talking about? I haven't told anyone. Believe me, I'm damn proud of that fact, too.”  
His lips twitched at that. He would be proud of that, too, if he believed it. “Then how does Gibson know?”  
She opened her mouth but shut it again. Her eyes widened. Her cheeks blushed. Lucas waited. Looked like it was secret spilling time. But instead of answering his question, she asked one of her own. “What makes you think Gibson knows?”  
Knowing he shouldn't but unable to explain otherwise, he told her, “He used it against me when I put him on medical leave today.”  
“You put him on medical leave? For how long?”  
“I already said more than I should,” Lucas stated. “And don't change the subject. When did you tell him?”  
“I didn't tell him.”  
“Then how does he know?”  
Vic threw her hands up in the air. Then she placed them on her hips and stared at him. He let her. He didn't know what to say, anyway. So he waited as she kept staring. He was beginning to feel uncomfortable by the time she finally spoke quietly, “That's what's bothering you. That someone knows about us sleeping together.”  
Sleeping together? Is that all they were to her still? He cleared his throat and said, “You know what's at stake for us if this gets out.”  
Silence descended again. Vic stared again. Lucas stared at the floor. What he'd known since Gibson left his office that morning was happening. He still didn't know what he wanted to do about it. But given that he was the superior, he would have to go with whatever she wanted, anyway. Pushing against her would only end up in legal issues the department didn't need.  
He closed his eyes briefly before looking at her once more and asking the one question he didn't really want an answer to. “Do you want to continue this between us?”  
Once more her eyes widened. She spit out, “It sounds like you don't.”  
“Victoria, once it's no longer a secret, we have to make a decision. Either we choose to put our jobs first,” Lucas hesitated, “or we choose each other.”  
She seemed to ponder his words. Finally she asked, “Why do we have to choose?”  
He let out a short laugh. “Because I'm the fire chief.”  
“And I'm just a pawn-level firefighter.”  
“You know I don't think of you that way.”  
“I'm not really sure how you think of me,” she told him.  
He stepped forward and stated, “I like you. A lot. I respect you. You're a damn good firefighter. You're passionate. You could easily make a lasting career out of it, and I cannot be the one to take that away from you.”  
Her eyes watered. She wiped them away with one hand and said, “Then maybe you never should've walked into my apartment the first time.”  
Lucas felt like he'd been slapped. He was surprised she didn't. “Do you regret inviting me that first night? Do you regret all the time we've spent together?”  
She shook her head. “I could never regret it. Any of it.”  
“Then tell me what you want, right now. Tell me where you want this to go,” he pleaded, moving his hand back and forth between them.  
Vic wrapped her arms around herself and blinked away more tears. She asked, “What do you want?”  
That was easy enough to answer. “I want what you want.”  
“Why are you pushing this?”  
“You know why.”  
She looked away, then back at him. Lucas realized he didn't like to see her cry. He'd never seen it before, and he hoped to never see it again.  
“Why now? It's only been a couple months. We're good, aren't we?” Vic pointed out.  
“Because someone knows. And if that one person tells someone else, then it spreads around the city as quickly as a fire in an abandoned house,” he told her.  
Vic moved closer to him but stayed back far enough he couldn't touch her. “So the only reason we're even having this fight is because you found out Gibson knows we're sleeping together.”  
“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” he admitted, curious as to why her demeanor changed.  
She actually laughed – only a little, but a definite laugh. “That's ridiculous.”  
Lucas’s gaze snapped to hers. Did she really just say that he was being ridiculous for worrying about their jobs? He had to ask, “Why do you say that?”  
Vic moved closer and placed a distracting hand on his chest. She looked up at him through her eyelashes. He suddenly couldn't remember why they were fighting. But then she told him, “Because Gibson has known all along.”  
“What?” he managed to get out. Her hand creeped closer to his neck, fingers tickling the very edge of his beard.  
“Gibson found out my next shift after that very first night.”  
As her hand circled to the back of his neck, his brain searched for the memory of their first time. He grinned and said, “You mean the day you snuck out of your own apartment while I was in the shower?”  
Her hand stopped. A hint of red appeared on her cheeks, along with a sheepish grin. “Yeah, that day.”  
Feeling emboldened, Lucas slipped his arms around her waist as he asked, “How did he find out?”  
Vic actually laughed and answered, “You know me and my secret keeping.”  
He laughed with her and added, “Yet two months later, you haven't told a single person.”  
She pulled back but not out of his grasp. Her eyes widened again. “See? Be proud of me.”  
Lucas pulled her back against him. “I am proud of you for not telling anyone since Gibson. But why him?”  
“I needed advice on what to do. He wouldn't let it go. He was bugging me about calling you when you called me,” she explained.  
“Did you list me under Chief or something?” he asked. She turned her face into his chest, and he couldn't make out what she mumbled. “You're going to have to repeat that.”  
She lifted her face and blurted, “Ripley. I listed you as Ripley. I didn't know what else to put, okay?”  
He kissed the top of her head and tugged her even closer. “I guess we'll be okay for a while longer, then. As long as Gibson didn't tell anyone.”  
“I think he's had his own issues to worry about.”  
“True,” Lucas agreed. He smiled down at her and added, “Maybe he should go to a few of those meetings.”  
“Maybe,” Vic agreed. “It worked for us.”  
“I'm not sure he needs the kind of ‘help' we got from it.”  
Vic moaned against his chest and begged, “Can we do something besides talk about Gibson and his problems?”  
“What did you have in mind?”  
The look she offered told him what he wanted to hear. Vic standing up to him always had turned him on. It was what had drawn him in at first. And he wasn't ready to give that up. He wasn't sure he ever would be. Luckily he found out he wouldn't have to yet when she met his gaze and commanded, “Bedroom. Now.”  
He happily obliged.


End file.
